Okkyung Lee

Okkyung Lee

Okkyung Lee is a South Korean cellist, improviser and composer from Daejeon, South Korea, born in 1975. She develops a personal approach to contemporary cello performance using her classical training as a starting point, and combines jazz, Korean traditional music, noise and extended techniques in her work.

Career and collaborations

Since 2000, Lee has performed and recorded with a wide range of musicians, including Laurie Anderson, Carla Bozulich, John Butcher, Nels Cline, Chris Corsano, Axel Dörner, Carlos Giffoni, Vijay Iyer, Urs Leimgruber, Thurston Moore, Ikue Mori, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Tyshawn Sorey, C Spencer Yeh and John Zorn. She also appears in groups including 6ix, the Evan Parker Electroacoustic Septet and The Jump Arts Orchestra.

Recordings and releases

Lee releases music on labels including Tzadik, Psi, Dancing Wayang, My Cat Is An Alien, Ecstatic Peace!, Emanem and Fakata. Her releases include Nihm and Noisy Love Songs (For George Dyer) on Tzadik; The Bleeding Edge, a trio recording with Evan Parker and Peter Evans on Psi; Anicca, a duo with Phil Minton on Dancing Wayang; Rubbings, a duo recording with Christian Marclay on My Cat Is An Alien, also issued as A Silnet place on CD; I Saw the Ghost of an Unknown Soul and it Said..., a solo cello album on Ecstatic Peace!; Check for Monsters with Steve Beresford and Peter Evans on Emanem; and White Cable, Black Wires, a duo with John Edwards on Fakata.

Support and recognition

She receives a composer commission from the New York State Council on the Arts in 2007 and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant in 2010.